Cornerstone Research Reviews

Pros

mentorship
formal training programs
collaborative work environment
good compensation and profit sharing benefits
relatively flexible with vacation requests
Fantastic prep if you are considering law school but have quantitative skills
Resources to help you apply to MBA/JD/MPP after working a few years
social events

Cons

unpredictable and sometimes volatile hours
sometimes there is busy work to be done that may be delegated to new analysts

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage feedback on a more regular basis outside of review cycles
Keep tabs on analysts satisfaction- the best work environment comes when everyone is happy (positive feedback loop)

Pros

The work is very interesting and challenging - cases can be mini problem-solving exercises and it's enormously fulfilling to file a report and finish up a project.
Smart people from top colleges are good to brainstorm with. People are generally hardworking and do not slack off, so there is a lot of cooperation and a collaborative work style.
Management rewards being a "good corporate citizen" so it's easy to get help, advice or extra hands to pitch in for tight situations and deadlines.
Cornerstone pays well compared to competitors. Management tries hard to maintain a congenial work environment with various social activities organized on a regular basis.
Good opportunities to keep in touch with academic, attend academic conferences etc.

Cons

If interviewing for an Associate or above position, reviews by Analysts are not relevant because it's a very different world for the two groups of people.
Promotions for analysts are no-brainers, they are always promoted within the analyst role (3 titles).

Pre-2007 that used to be the case for Associates and Managers as well.
But due to the recent realization that Cornerstone has too many middle management layers, recently promotions for Associates have almost been at a standstill. A lot of Associates who joined in 2007 and 2008 have left (almost entire classes) due to dissatisfaction about the critical, negative performance review cycles that are specifically geared towards giving reasons to deny promotions.
At higher levels, there has been a mini-exodus in managers, senior managers, and Principals who have been either asked to leave suddenly (sometimes even after a recent promotion), have been demoted or have exited on their own.
Management needs to be more transparent about the changing criteria for promotions, the new "up or out" policies they are stealthily introducing, and also to be upfront when there is not a good fit in the early stages. Because of the niche industry, the higher you go, you get more specialized, and those who have been asked to leave after 8-9 years have had a hard time finding good opportunities.
Management consulting firms that have "up or out" policies are upfront both about the policy and about promoting exit opportunities to those who have to avail of it. But Cornerstone's management is very opaque about their plans and the change in upward mobility (or lack of it) opportunities.
I see the firm recruiting new associates with the same rhetoric about promotions but the reality has changed significantly in the last several years since I joined.

Advice to Senior Management

More transparency. Introduce a title "Senior Associate" so that the first promotion is near-automatic and weeds out only those who are a really bad fit. This allows associates to develop self-confidence and provides positive reinforcement for growth.
Also provide better and earlier feedback for those who are not a good fit.
Do not hush up the fact of senior folks leaving or being asked to leave. This is very demoralizing for the managers who worked with them. It's also confusing for new associates since they're not sure what actions lead to such negative consequences.

Pros

I enjoyed my time at Cornerstone, the people are wonderful and the work intellectually engaging at times. Management is generally really good with time off, whether for vacation or longer term (such as extended time for pregnancies far longer than legal requirements). Integrity in work and in the way people interact (at the analyst level anyways).

Cons

As anywhere, if there is something boring, the most junior analyst got it. But it's educational, and the managers generally try very hard to take analyst development into consideration, but sometimes there are things that the team just have to wade through.

Pros

Generally good culture. Respectful management. Culture has worsened since rapid growth of company but they're trying to bring it back. managerial experience esp when compared to other consulting firms at similar level.

Cons

Work can get repetitive after a while depending on what you end up doing. Can be a lot of work for not as much pay/prestige as compared to top management consulting firms, but it compensates in a generally nice atmosphere to work in. Associate level and above work is very niche.

Pros

Interesting work addressing financial and economic issues in high profile lawsuits
Friendly and intelligent co-workers
Senior management team that values employees

Cons

Hours can be unpredictable at times

Advice to Senior Management

Keep focusing on culture

Pros

Relatively relaxed work environment.
Flexible work schedules allowed for all employee levels.
Moderate hours necessary.
Colleagues and experts are often very smart.

Cons

Limited advancement opportunities ahead of schedule.
Incentive pay is low relative to other consulting firms.
Culture fails to address differences between PhD and MBA personalities.

Advice to Senior Management

Work to retain and nurture top performing individuals.
Enhance the incentive compensation component of total compensation, so that performance matters in overall pay.

Pros

fellow analysts are great to work with; it is helpful for business school; if you are a top-performing analyst, you get good responsibilities; decent pay

Cons

the hours are extremely unpredictable. over the time i have been here, the culture has gone down. it is no longer the same firm with which i started. you get the pockets of managers who care, but you also get many who are completely inconsistent with the culture. also, there is no incentive to perform as everyone gets paid roughly the same and is promoted on the same cycle.

Advice to Senior Management

get rid of not only the managers/associates who are hard to work with because they seem unable to do the job, but also take stock of those who are inconsistent with cornerstone culture. at the end of the day, the culture is the biggest sell of cornerstone, and it is quickly becoming something that should not be sold.

Pros

- Teamwork
- Rigorous understanding of problems
- Build quantitative skills
- Consulting work
- Balance multiple priorities
- Training & Development
- Support of career growth beyond the company for pre-graduate student employees

Cons

- Unpredictable hours and longer hours
- Projects can disappear quickly because of court rulings
- Projects can become tedious

Advice to Senior Management

Always keep a pulse on morale. Continue to make it a fun place to work and reward employees. Keep up the integrity.

Pros

For the most part, you work with extremely intelligent people; however, intelligence does not translate into great management at the firm. Everyone is friendly, approachable and eager to develop and train one another. There are a handful of exceptional managers that know how to run a team and genuinely care about their employees both in and out of the firm. There are lots of leadership opportunities that prepare you for your next job or grad school at the analyst level. The people are what sell the firm. The social atmosphere definitely shines. Hopefully the upper management will maintain the culture as the company grows.

Cons

When push comes to shove, at the analyst level you are just a cog with an expiration date. There is no potential to grow within the firm, unless you are on the east coast and get a CFA. The associates and first year managers definitely abuse your time and have very poor management skills. Unfortunately, since the firm pulls revenues by billing hours, those managers that can get their team to bill look the best in front of the execs, even though their work may have zero meaning. The workflow isn't consistent and there is a lot of down time during the day. This translates into lots of weekend work and work on the holidays. Lots of workers are profiled into programmers or document employees, which leads to a mundane workload.

Promotion for analysts are based on tenure and not performance. Also, there is a bit of favoritism when analysts are chosen for leadership positions.

In order to have successful career, which holds true for most careers, it is important to seek out those exceptional managers, gain their trust, and be very vocal about projects of interest.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on developing the younger associates and managers into those exceptional manager that make the firm what it is. Secondly, improve the once strong culture that faltered over the years.

Pros

Cornerstone is serious about what they do and awfully good at it. In general, the people are bright and friendly and the atmosphere is cordial bordering on pleasant with upper management and genuinely fun with fellow analysts. Occasionally the work can be stimulating.

Cons

The hours are horribly unpredictable. They're usually not too bad (45-50 hours per week), but you never know when you're going to have to work late so making can plans can be tough. Sometimes they do spike to 60-70 hours. The managers are mostly good, but a few bad apples stick out. It's a shame Cornerstone let them rise to where they are. I have a feeling a few years ago they wouldn't have, but because of the bureaucratic inertia of a growing company, they slipped through the cracks. Bad too is that a lot of the good people have been leaving. They seem dissatisfied with both the type of work and work/life balance. There are lots of jokes about wanting 9-to-5 jobs because this one definitely isn't.

Advice to Senior Management

Chill out a little bit. People are always willing to work if something's important but not everything is an emergency. A little bit of clarity and moderation goes a long way.